<p>Hey guys, </p>
<p>I was wondering if incoming freshman should start registering for courses now? I vaguely recall that we will be contacted by an adviser sometime in the summer...are we supposed to wait until they contact us? Any recs/caveats about freshman scheduling is highly appreciated too!</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>You’re not allowed to register (well, that’s how it was a few years ago… it may have changed) for courses before your adviser indicates on an online system that you have met or spoken over the phone.</p>
<p>^ that’s what I’ve read as well. You have to talk to your pre-major advisor and once you’ve talked things out with them, they do some magic on their end and “unlock” your ability to actually register for courses :)</p>
<p>I’m really digging how many people are assigned to talk to me. First was a woman from The Kelly Writers House, then a student from the International Students Association (since I’m an international), and a pre-major advisor! (and I hear you get a senior student assigned to you as well…I could be wrong about that).</p>
<p>^Hi! I’m from Canada too. But I’ve yet to have the pre-major advisor contacting me. Which school are you going into? Was the advising helpful?</p>
<p>You get a junior or senior student assigned as your peer adviser, and that’s the person you get to ask all of the real questions (i.e. how drunk did you get on Thursdays freshman year, and was that normal?).</p>
<p>For what it’s worth, Penn does an EXCELLENT job of bringing students in and giving them access to important resources. Right now it’s a lot of advisers; when you get closer to move-in, you’ll hear from the recruitment chairs of all sorts of campus groups (if you have indicated an interest in writing, you’ll hear from the DP, Kelly Writers House, etc). Once you’re on campus, you will talk to your pre-major adviser at least once a semester (I talked to mine multiple times a few semesters and even after I declared my major); once you declare a major, you’ll have one or more major advisers who are there ONLY to help you. The career services advisers actually know what they’re talking about, so when you’re ready to start looking for internships/jobs, you will have good people to turn to.</p>
<p>Pretty much everywhere you look, you have help if you want it. I emphasize that because if you don’t want the help, you’re not forced to take it!</p>
<p>when do people declare a major ?</p>
<p>by the end of sophomore year, although you can basically declare it anytime before then if you’re ready</p>
<p>are there GPA/credit requirements to declare a major?</p>
<p>It depends on the major, but most of the time there aren’t any GPA requirements; I’d say maybe 25% of College majors (probably less) have course requirements.</p>